The Inbetweeners returned to E4 with just over 2.2 million viewers last night, Monday 13 September, the digital channel's highest-ever audience for an original commission.

The opening episode of third series of the Bafta-winning sitcom drew 2.247 million viewers, a 10.9% share of the audience, between 10pm and 10.30pm on E4, with another 327,000, a 2.9% share, on E4+1.

News at Ten had 2.049 million viewers, a 9.8% share, between 10pm and 10.30pm on ITV1 and ITV1 HD.

The Inbetweeners episode was E4's highest-rating original commission, beating the previous high, an episode of Hollyoaks that was watched by 2 million viewers in August 2008.

It narrowly missed out on becoming E4's biggest-rating show ever, which remains a Friends episode broadcast in January 2003 that was watched by 2.367 million.

The Inbetweeners, in which the students staged a charity fashion show, also beat Jamie Oliver's new Channel 4 series, Jamie's American Food Revolution, which had 1.679 million viewers, a 9% share, between 10pm and 11pm, with another 181,000 viewers on Channel 4+1.

BBC2's Simon Amstell sitcom Grandma's House had 771,000 viewers, a 3.7% share, between 10pm and 10.30pm, while BBC1's 10pm BBC News bulletin was watched by 4.332 million, a 20.5% share.

The second series of the Inbetweeners launched with 1.3 million viewers in April 2009 and went on to average 1.2 million viewers, a 7% share.